Hof, Danielle, Dr.

MY PROJECT
Identification of novel protein biomarkers for atherosclerosis

Ruptures of atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries lead to acute coronary syndromes (heart attack), which are the leading cause of death world-wide meanwhile. Today, several risk factors, like high blood pressure and smoking, help to identify individuals that are at high risk of developing coronary artery disease. However, there is still a high demand for the identification of novel biomarkers to improve the early diagnosis of acute coronary events and to identify pre-symptomatic patients at high risk for coronary events. My project aims at the identification of such biomarkers.

Inflammatory processes play a pivotal role in the progression of atherosclerotic plaques, and we hypothesize that proteins in the plaque are modified during plaque rupture and erosion, and are released into the blood stream. Possible posttranslational modifications include proteolytic cleavage and oxidation of amino acids, such as nitrotyrosine and chlorotyrosine. Antibodies against these tyrosine modifications are being isolated from large antibody phage display libraries. In addition, we are generating an array of antibodies against proteins that are released by atherosclerotic tissues.

I am a member of the Arnold von Eckardstein group.